The Pittsburgh Pirates have picked up outfielder Anthony Alford on waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. The 26-year-old right-handed hitter went 3-for-16 with a home run in 13 games this season.
Alford was a third round draft in 2012, who ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball for three years straight from 2016 to 2018. He has played parts of four seasons in the majors with no success. He has posted a -0.1 WAR in each of his four seasons on offense and he has been below average on defense in three of those seasons. He has a .155/.200/.254 slash line in 46 games, though that covers only 75 plate appearances, so he has never got an extended look. In eight minor league seasons, he has a .265/.358/.393 slash line, with 114 stolen bases in 146 attempts. He had less than a full year of service time prior to this season.
